In order to fire up demand and fight the worst economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Thailand will expand tax incentives to millions of its middle and upper income classes. The concession would allow around 3.7 million taxpayers, Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday (Oct 7), to subtract 30,000 baht (S$1,306.15) each from their …

Indonesian President Joko Widodo was under growing pressure to revoke his new divisive labor law, with unions and Muslim groups planning to challenge it in court and some regional leaders openly opposing the law. Among the organizers of three days of national strikes ending Thursday, the KSPI labor group is planning to put a case against the new law before …

In order to create a sovereign wealth fund to attract investment and boost the economy, the Indonesian government is planning 75 trillion rupiah (S$6.8 billion) in cash. Global heavyweights have shown interest in joining the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The creation of a sovereign fund, to be known as the Investment Authority of Indonesia, is part of …

ASEAN – The U.S. government announced new partnership to aid five Southeast Asian countries in an effort to take another bite out of Chinese influence in the region. On September 11, The Mekong-U.S. Partnership was formed by offering aid to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for project related to Covid-19 relief to anti-drought measures. The US government hopes to …

METRO MANILA – Senate President Vicente Sotto III has accepted the apology of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on his remarks that the Senate should be the one to blame for any delay in the passage of the 2021 spending bill. Sotto said that he accepted the apology and the Senate will do the best work as the Senate always do. …

METRO MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday vowed to settle the House speakership row if the members of the House of Representatives failed to resolve the crisis brought upon by the speakership squabble between Allan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. The President appealed to the lawmakers to refrain from any “political moves” that could risk the …

KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) headed by Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman has launched “PauseMalaysia” campaing with the aim of urging politicians to set aside politics and parties and focus on it fight agains the Covid-19 pandemic. Muda posted the campaing on its official Twitter page (@partimuda) with hashtag #PauseMalaysia. #PauseMalaysia pic.twitter.com/jzYpOmDbxT — Parti MUDA (@partimuda) October …

KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been granted an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Tuesday, as he plans to show evidence that he still had the support from the “strong and convincing” majority of MPs for him to form a government. Anwar expressed his gratitude to the majesty for granting him and audience. He plans to …

Here’s the Senses Resort having a private infinity pool, gourmet food and two daily temperature checks. Welcome to Thailand’s five-star quarantine, where well-heeled visitors will live in comfort while adhering to some of the strictest anti-coronavirus measures in the world. The tourism-reliant country is reopening to a limited number of holidaymakers after barring tourists for six months, with the first …

The Presidential Secretariat refuted reports that the working visit of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to Central Kalimantan was an attempt to stop mass protests in front of the Presidential Palace against the newly adopted and highly controversial Job Creation Legislation. Jokowi’s trip to Kalimantan had been scheduled for a long time which was stated by Bey Machmudin, the secretariat’s deputy …